Robot Wars Wiki:History
In 2008, Robot Wars Wiki was created as part of the long-running Wikia project. Prior to this, the only information on the many years dead TV show Robot Wars was from the Team Run Amok tournament trees, old publications such as Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide, and the archived website Tectonic Robot Wars. Many of the Robot Wars fan community congregated on Youtube, where they held discussions in the comment section. The creation of Robot Wars Wiki led not only to a new location for the Robot Wars community, but it established the facts and results of the entirety of the Robot Wars franchise. Roboteers have gone on record as stating that the Wikia lists information about their robots and teams that they themselves could ever know. Robot Wars Wiki was created on February 18, 2008 by Christophee, a long-time user of Wikipedia. Having edited a few Robot Wars related articles on Wikipedia and seen that most of them had been deleted as they were not deemed notable enough for the site, Christophee decided to create a specialised wiki on which all aspects of the show could be covered in full detail. The Wikia moved slowly until the arrival of Toon Ganondorf (TG). Under his leadership, the small team of editors began a drastic expansion of the Wikia content, establishing articles for major robots like Firestorm, Hypno-Disc, Pussycat and Behemoth, and later expanding right down to minor contestants like Zorro, Derek and Direct Action; robots who would never even warrant a mention on Wikipedia. TG was the first user to reach out to roboteers themselves. Noel Poncelot of The Hassocks Hog, John Willoughby of The Steel Avenger and Laurie Calvert of Lightning were three of the most helpful UK roboteers to developing the Wikia. The Wikia also expanded into international jurisdictions, first American with Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors, then Dutch and German Robot Wars. The website rwnl.tk provided information on the second series of Dutch Robot Wars, but it was not until TG made contact with the roboteers behind Gravity, Tough as Nails and Tyke that the results of Dutch Series 1 and the German Robot Wars became known. Once this information was compiled, Robot Wars Wiki became the only comprehensive Robot Wars database on the internet. WJ Dijkstra also digitised the Dutch Robot Wars and made them available to interested UK fans, while Obi-Have found a provider of German Robot Wars footage. A conflict arose in late 2009 between Team Run Amok and the Robot Wars Wiki. Though the matter was semi-resolved in a short amount of time, the antagonism felt by Team Run Amok means that they no longer accepts questions about Robot Wars on the "Ask Aaron" page. The conflict was semi-resolved in 2010 when Obi-Have reached out and made amends with Mark Joerger via Wikipedia. In 2011, the Robot Wars Wiki hosted a Q&A with Tom Gutteridge, Robot Wars' executive producer, held on the Wiki's chat room, to celebrate the wiki's anniversary. In 2016, fans were thrilled when Robot Wars was renewed for a brand-new season with many returning faces. For the first time, Robot Wars Wiki, spearheaded by TG and ToastUltimatum, was related to an ongoing TV show, rather than a nostalgia-driven one. Articles for all new competing robots were quickly established, and new users and roboteers alike were all brought towards the Wiki. As the Robot Wars Wiki continues to expand, the staff here welcome old fans, new fans and competing roboteers alike. Category:Robot Wars Wiki